Samuel L. Jackson Joining Spike Lee's Oldboy Remake

Once upon a time, Samuel L. Jackson was a go-to actor in Spike Lee’s stable, having appeared in such films as School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues and Jungle Fever. And while Jackson acts in roughly four movies per year, he hasn’t appeared in an official Spike Lee “joint” in far too long. (His commitments to Marvel and various Quentin Tarantino films tend to get in the way).

The L.A. Times says that’s about to change, reporting that Jackson and musician Bruce Hornsby both have been linked to Lee’s English-language remake of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy, a revenge thriller that Lee’s about to begin filming in New York and Louisiana.

An anonymous source would not elaborate on Jacksons’ involvement in the picture, though the Times elaborates that Sam would play a villain who is brutally tortured by Josh Brolin’s character – a man who has been detained by mysterious adversaries for years with no explanation. If you know Park’s movie, you remember the scene with the teeth. And the hammer. Lee’s movie won’t use teeth, but Jackson (if he gets that role) is in for something far more wicked.

Hornsby, meanwhile, will contribute the film’s score, having recently worked on Lee’s Lakers documentary, Kobe Doin’ Work, as well as the recent Red Hook Summer, in select theaters now. Of the Oldboy score, Hornsby suggests that he is “working on a few things, and I'll send them to Spike soon. The 'D' word [‘darkness’] has been spoken to me by him, but I think the score will also run the gamut.”